Pool closes as sports club consultations are held

A review of sports facilities in the council area got underway with a meeting for local clubs last Thursday in the same week as Banbridge swimming pool closed for a month.

The clubs were given the opportunity to help form part of an overall sports facility strategy with Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.

A council statement said: “The Sports Facility Strategy consultation was well attended by 21 local sports clubs with each having the opportunity to discuss the current condition of the facilities that they use and the current facility needs of their club.

“In addition they were able to advise the consultants on their clubs’ needs for the future.”

This meeting regarding facilities comes hot on the heels of the recent announcement that Banbridge Swimming Pool will close from August 1 to September 1 for refurbishment.

The village changing area is getting a complete revamp with new floor tiles, new wall tiles, new cubicles, new internal doors, completely refurbed shower and toilet areas, new LED lighting and new ceiling. The only remaining fixture in this area will be lockers which were only installed two years ago.

Work in the pool area will include: new LED lighting, essential maintenance work to flume/slide, a number of new clear panels in flume, new water feature in flume and a new traffic light/timer system in flume.

Meanwhile the council has also denied that there are any plans to convert the all weather sports pitch at Banbridge Leisure Centre into tennis courts. A council statement said: “There are no plans to close the Banbridge Leisure Centre all weather pitch.

“This, as with all surfaces of this type, will need to be refurbished or indeed replaced at some point in the future as is the case with other synthetic surfaces in the Borough, however no decisions have been taken on the scope or timescales of any works to these pitches to date.”